A little bit more about me: I was born and raised in Europe (Germany and Holland), come from a very crunchy cranola background and received my education at the Waldorf school in the town next to mine. I met my first husband (an American in the US military) and had my first son at home with a midwife in the Netherlands. We moved to the US when my son was one and had our second son at home with a Midwife in the Washington DC area three and a half years later. I received a lot of negative feedback from those around us about my choice to have a homebirth, including the doctors at the military hospital when we took our son for his first check up, days after he was born. One of the doctors actually told me that he considered my having the baby at home a form of child abuse and refused to see me. There was another pediatrician there from the Phillipines that was very simpathetic to my situation and actually more or less apologized for his colleagues stand on my having a homebirth.
One of the things that was very helpfull and encouraging to me at the time was Mothering Magazine. It was such a confirmation of my convictions and beliefs to find a magazine that was dedicated to a lifestyle similar to mine, it really helped me stay the course in the face of so much negativity at times about my choices.
Over the years I have served as a doula for several friends during the births of their children. All were hospital births and unfortunately in every case there was some medical intervention that ultimately created problems.
My daughter was born many years later during my mariage to my second husband. I had a natural birth but in a hospital this time, not because I didn't want to have a homebirth but because my husbands disposition was such that I did not think he would be able to handle a homebirth. I pretty much dicated my wishes to the hospital staff and was lucky enough to have a very supportive nurse on duty during my delivery that totally got where I was coming from and all went well with the delivery despite the fact that my daughter was 9 pounds 4 ounces and according to the OBGYN most likely too big for a natural childbirth.
I breastfed all my childred on demand, co-slept and practiced AP parenting.
My second marriage didn't work out either, in fact it was a very difficult, verbally abuse situation that should have ended years before it actually did. My divorce was final this past November and I am now working on putting my life back together and raising my daughter. Both my sons are grown, one has graduated from college and is living and working in Europe, the other is about to graduate this summer.
While I was a stay at home mom for the first 6 years of my sons life. I have been working full time for many years, went back to work 5 months after my daughter was born and have been the sole financial provider for my family.
I feel very lonely and overwhelmed at times and hope to find the right forums here to post my concens/questions/inquiries and thoughts as well as hopefully be able to contribute some of the life lessons I have learned along the way of my very long, sometimes strange, intense, sometimes happy, often sad and challenging journey.
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